The Chrishanger
The Official Website of Christopher G. Nuttall
The Posleen Fan-Works
A long time ago in a city far, far
away...
It is, actually.
The idea of the Posleen In England story was conceived in
Bolton, which is currently over 7000 miles (12 hours flying time, at
least) from Borneo, which is where I am currently staying...
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I’ll start at the beginning.
The first Posleen book,
A Hymn Before Battle (free
online edition) was published in 2000, but I didn't actually
read it until 2003, when I was looking for new alien invasion
stories to read. It
wasn't long until I moved on to
Gust Front (free
online edition),
When the Devil Dances (free
online edition) and
Hell's Faire (free
online edition). I
was hooked. Purists may
argue that the Posleen series isn't pure alien invasion, but I
disagreed.
Gust
Front is still my favorite Posleen book and among my favorite alien
invasion novels. Why?
Because John Ringo did a wonderful job of creating a version
of America that looked and felt like a society going to war.
Iron Mike may be the hero of the series, but he is far from
the only character in the book.
Some of them shine in their own right.
Gust Front is not just about Mike; it is also a vivid
depiction of a world changed by alien contact.
Complicating matters for humanity are the fact that not all of their
allies are trustworthy.
The Federation is an ant colony, according to a Chinese character
from the first book, and our role is to be the soldier ants.
Even the more decent Galactics fear what humanity will do if
unleashed into the universe, for we can fight and the majority of
the Galactics...cannot. Part
of this apparently contra-evolutionary problem lies in an even older
issue, genetic tampering by a long-gone super-race.
Later books in the Posleen series (mainly the ones by Tom
Kratman) bring this into sharp focus, with the alien meddling
bearing directly upon the galaxy as encountered by the humans in the
modern era. Tom Kratman
draws a direct line between do-gooders from the west (who have been
known to wreck havoc on Third World countries in the name of helping
them) and the willingness of the aliens to intervene to save the
Galactics from themselves.
After Hell’s Faire, there
were no Posleen-related books for what felt like an eternity.
Julie Cochrane was the first writer to return to the Posleen
Universe, with
Cally's War (free
online edition ). I
am sad to report that I was not particularly impressed with the
story. Cally as we see
her in this story is a very different person from the girl who
charmed us all in the original story.
She is also dangerously incompetent, more like a bad C-Movie
spy femme fatal than anything realistic.
Any halfway competent secret society/secret service would
have kicked her out on her ass long before she managed to create a
major underground incident between various different resistance
organizations. The book
does get better in the second half, but it really needed a sharp
editor. And Cally needs
to be more like
Salt.
Matters improve to some
extent in
Sister Time (free
online edition) where Cally is reunited with her long-lost
sister who has become a mental super-being since we last saw her in
A Hymn Before Battle, but
Honor of the Clan (free
online edition) is a second flop.
The long-awaited return of Iron Mike blurs into a confusing
plot that ends with an absurd battle between two different groups of
good guys. Enough said.
A different take on the
Posleen Universe was provided by Tom Kratman, who considered the
possibilities inherent in rejuvenation and the ‘all hands on deck’
mentality required to fight and beat the Posleen.
Watch on the Rhine (free
online edition) is set in Germany, where the Germans are forced
to rejuvenate one of the most reviled organizations in history, the
Waffen-SS. My thoughts
on the book are
here, but aside from the politics Watch on the Rhine is a
definitely return to form for the Posleen universe.
Which is where I came in.
I had already written
several books by then and I liked the thought of creating an alien
invasion novel set in Britain.
Tom Kratman had already hinted at what happened in Britain; I
worked out a scenario and pitched it to John Ringo.
He said... “Go
ahead.”
So I did.
I started by working out a
Posleen timeline, drawn from
John Ringo’s four books and Watch on the Rhine.
And then I started trying to imagine how this would impact
the UK. We are not
Europe and we are not America.
I like to think that we would have our own take on things.
Eventually, I finished the
first
draft and sent it to John.
(No one told me about the
Posleen RPG, hence the considerable differences between it and my
version.)
And then I realized that I
could write a second Posleen book, one set in the Middle East.
How would they
react to the Posleen? It
was intended as a novella and I think that John was surprised when I
presented him with a full novel.
Originally it was called Jihad on their Arse – long story –
but I renamed it Holy War when I
finally finished it.
They are not my best work.
I admit that from the start and I do intend to rewrite Yeomen
as The Thin Red Line when I feel
up to it (anyone from the British Army who wishes to help out would
be more than welcome) but for the moment the universe is closed.
However...
Tom Kratman produced
Yellow Eyes (free
online edition) and then
The Tuloriad (sample
chapters), which has a fair claim to being his best Posleen
book.
And John Ringo brought Iron
Mike back in
Eye of the Storm (Free
Online Edition).
John Ringo’s work is well worth a
read. Check out the free
books
here and then buy some of them.
You won’t regret it.
Obviously, I do not hold the
copyright to the Posleen universe, which remains firmly in John
Ringo’s hands. These two
books are canonical if John says they are; not canonical if John
doesn't say they are.
And I am not making any profit from this.
Based on John Ringo's work.
Buy his books. Visit his site.